Eric Dier has admitted that Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking and the arrival of Jose Mourinho presented a unique challenge to him.
From the outside looking in, it would seem as if Dier was one of the biggest winners of the managerial change at Spurs as the 26-year-old has had a new lease of life since being moved to centre-back by the Portuguese coach.
However, the England international admitted that he had wanted to play at centre-back for several years already and had held an honest conversation with Pochettino regarding this desire last summer.
Dier started as a centre-back in the last two games of the Pochettino era against Red Star Belgrade and Sheffield United, a fact that is often forgotten.
He revealed that the Argentine had agreed last summer that he would be selected as a central defender if he trained well.
In an interview with The Athletic, the former Sporting Lisbon man said: “I had a very honest conversation with Pochettino at the beginning of last season. Because I had surgery in pre-season and missed all the pre-season.
“I went to see him, it was more about my position and where I was playing. We had spoken for many years about me gradually making that transition back to centre-back. For the last three years we’d had many conversations on it. And it was me saying to him: for me, it was now. And if it wasn’t for him, we’d have to find another solution.
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“He was very happy. I went to him, made that decision, and came to him with a definitive statement. He was actually very happy with that. He told me: train hard, get fit, and then you know how I am, whoever deserves to will play.”
While Dier did keep his place in the side after Mourinho replaced Pochettino at the helm, he was moved back into midfield by the 57-year-old.
He admitted that it was difficult for him to deal with the change of position due to the commitment Pochettino had made to him.
Dier added: “I said to (Mourinho) that it’s very difficult for me, having made that commitment when Pochettino was there, to go back on it.
“Centre-back is where I see myself. He said ‘OK, prove it to me’, basically. He gave me my chance. And things have been going OK since then.”
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It is clear that Dier has always seen himself as a centre-half. Spurs fans tend to forget that he actually played some of his best football for us at the back. The 2016/17 season has arguably been the 26-year-old’s best season so far in a Spurs shirt and for the majority of that campaign, he played as part of a back three alongside Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.
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